Tomorrow, Grover Norquist, the president of Americans for Tax Reform, will go behind closed doors with members of Congress to discuss his organization's Taxpayer Protection Pledge – which forces members to agree to never raise taxes on anyone under any circumstances.

This pledge – and the dozens of other special-interest pledges like it that seek to essentially control member voting on everything from immigration and energy policy to foreign affairs – is one of the chief causes of gridlock in Washington.

That's why No Labels called for an end to special-interest pledges in its Make Congress Work! action plan. Now, it's time to get members of Congress on board.

This Norquist meeting is an example of everything that’s wrong with Washington -- special interests getting special access, asking lawmakers to end negotiations before they even start. When you combine Norquist’s no tax pledge with other special-interest pledges on the left that force members to agree to never cut any entitlements, you basically eliminate any hope of sensibly resolving the “fiscal cliff” of steep, across-the-board tax hikes and spending cuts that will take effect at the end of this year.